


Thirty

by Elivra



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon Compliant, Drabble Collection, F/F, Gen, Manga Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-05-16 20:00:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14817929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elivra/pseuds/Elivra
Summary: This story consists of thirty 100-word drabbles from the SnK universe, both canon and AU. Rated for swearing, some violence.





	1. Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello! So I've been struggling to write lately, and decided to do this little challenge I found [here](https://elivra-fanfiction.tumblr.com/post/174428204290/anarchivedblog-blog-using-the-prompts-below) on tumblr.
> 
> A Drabble is a written work of less than a 100 words. (This is incredibly difficult for me to write as I tend to ramble.)
> 
> I will update each drabble as a new chapter, and **because these are so small, I would suggest reading the story in the "Entire Work" format**.
> 
> I finished this "challenge" over several months, but I'm happy to say it did help, because I always came back to this to write whenever I hit a block with my other Wips. :)
> 
> A small guide:
> 
> 1\. School AU  
> 2\. Canon  
> 3\. High school AU  
> 4\. Canon  
> 5\. Beach AU  
> 6\. Superhero AU  
> 7\. Canon  
> 8\. Crime AU (or something like that)  
> 9\. Fantasy AU  
> 10\. Ambiguous  
> 11\. Canon  
> 12\. Canon  
> 13\. Canon  
> 14\. Canon  
> 15\. Modern / Sci-fi AU  
> 16\. Ambiguous  
> 17\. Modern AU  
> 18\. Canon  
> 19\. Canon (because I refuse to have an AU with Erwin dead in it)  
> 20\. Canon  
> 21\. Canon  
> 22\. Modern AU  
> 23\. Canon  
> 24\. Modern/school AU  
> 25\. Canon  
> 26\. Canon  
> 27\. Modern/school AU  
> 28\. Canon  
> 29\. Canon  
> 30\. Space age/reincarnation AU
> 
> Happy reading!

“Has it started yet?"

“SSH!”

“Always late…”

Eren finally stumbles upon a random empty seat in the dark. He wants to scream and yell and defend himself; it's not _his_ fault his father had to drive him over but came home late from the hospital _as usual_ , not his fault, not his _fault_ -

“Hey.” A small voice pipes up next to him. “Popcorn?”

Anger leaves him in a whoosh. He squints at the vague blond head next to him.

“Thanks.” He munches. “I'm Eren.”

“I'm Armin. Nice to meet you.”

Eren grins in the dark and grabs more popcorn. “Same.”


	2. Accusation

He remembers reading a story once, from one of the tabooed books. A story of a woman like him, vilified and slung with mud by vicious accusers, where her motivations, obligations, responsibilities and circumstances did not matter. All that showed were her actions, and her actions were enough to mark her inhuman, an outsider, a dirty, filthy creature of muck.

He bears it all because these accusations, this slinging of mud that stains deeper than the thickest blood, comes hand-in-hand with the bolo tie around his neck.

A noose he accepted willingly, to sift the truth from the muck.


	3. Restless

The heavy silence in the library is ruptured by the sound of a pen tapping a sharp staccato on wood. Soon other sounds join them: the rustle of clothes adjusted, an anxious foot-tapping, the creak of old wood as she squirms and shifts in her chair.

A sigh. “Mikasa. Stop fidgeting so much.”

She is unapologetic. “He's late.”

“Then let  _ him _ suffer for it, not me. ”

She does not stop. Her leg is bobbing faster, the drum of her pen relentless.

The doors burst open and heavy footsteps hurry in.

She freezes, serene and glowing. She smiles. “Eren.”


	4. Snowflake

Levi has been cold for the majority of his life. The Underground could get muggy and stuffy at times, unsurprising when so many human bodies were forced to live together in a place with little to no air currents. But where no sunshine was seen, the cold had the most insidious hold.

Above ground, though, the cold is something else.

“What the hell?” He barks, and Mike smirks at him, tongue still sticking out.

“Try it.”

“ _Hell_ , no.”

But Levi does stick his tongue out, curious, snatching a single snowflake from the air.

“Well?”

Levi grimaces. “It’s fucking cold.”


	5. Haze

“It's too hooot,” Ymir groans, sprawling back directly beneath the umbrella.

“It's the beach. It's  _ supposed _ to be hot.”

Ymir simply closes her eyes and lets out a petulant groan. Krista doesn't deign to acknowledge her; silence follows.

When she hears movement, Ymir opens an eye -and nearly chokes on her own spit. The heat is rising from the sand in a glimmering haze, and shining in the midst of it all, is her bikini-clad girlfriend.

She grabs her and pulls her down onto the towel with her.

“Correction.  _ You're _ too hooot,” Ymir grins and kisses her until she laughs.


	6. Flame

Bertholdt is standing in the corner of the alley, flicking a lighter on and off, murmuring to Reiner. Marco shudders, then approaches them. Dawn is nearing, but it's not quite over yet. Footsteps, shouts, and gunfire still echo amidst the evacuated buildings.

Marco wonders where his friends are. He was separated from them hours ago and he tries not to worry about them. They'll be fine.

“... Eren hadn't showed up, we could have destroyed the second gate.”

Marco halts, staring. “What?”

Reiner and Bertholdt whip around, shocked. Bertholdt has no lighter. A small flame sits on his open palm.

_ …What? _


	7. Formal

“Ugh. They look so uncomfortable,” Hange whined.

Moblit sighed. “It's either a suit or a dress, Hange.”

“You won't catch me  _ dead _ wearing a dress.”

“Well, then.”

Ever since they had found out that they were expected to go to the fundraiser at the capital, Hange had tried to protest and complain to anyone who'd listen. Erwin had said it was a command, and they were expected to obey. There was no way out.

Still groaning, Hange let themselves be pushed in front of the mirror, then stopped abruptly.

“Damn,” they whistled. “I look  _ good. _ ”

“Told you so,” Moblit grinned.


	8. Companion

“Any last words, Smith?”

A grin: bloodied, confident, cocky. “Leviathan,” he says clearly.

 _Ping._ A sudden bullet kills the main light and pandemonium follows. Bodies drop with frightening speed, flashes of sharp steel and bright red blood are lit by the erratic gunfire.

“It was foolish of you to assume I came here alone,” Erwin drawls over the screams of the dying men.

Finally only the ringleader is left looking, horrified, as a dark form materialises next to Erwin Smith, matching his grin.

 _He's so small to be called Leviathan,_ the ringleader thinks before the blade cuts his throat open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: idek I adore violent Levi and grabbed my chance.


	9. Silver

When the scream echoes from the woods behind his family manor, he rushes out into the dark, armed with a simple dinner knife, heedless of the alarm stirring in his house.

These are _his_ woods, and his feet make a path of their own, swift and silent.

When he sees the dark figure before him, he acts instantly. He clambers up the hairy back and buries the knife right to its hilt, silver glinting in moonlight.

The creature vanishes in a howl of ashes to reveal a little girl cowering by the gnarled roots.

Eren takes her back with him.


	10. Prepared

She unpacks and repacks for the third time. Refolds the clothes along the creases. Counts her socks, her books, her bullets. Sharpens her knife. Assembles and disassembles her guns. Flips through her dog-eared grammar book, already familiar with what is supposed to be her mother tongue.

She hears him limp up to her door. “Ready?”

She nods, zippers everything shut, buckles everything tight. Tucks her hair behind her ears and avoids the mirror.

“Remember-”

“Always be prepared,” she interrupts. “I know.”

“No.” He steps forward, into her space. “Always come back.”

In her father's hug, Annie swallows hard and nods.


	11. Denial

_It can't be._

“It can't be!” She wails next to him, trussed up and hogtied and thrown in the back of the same carriage as him. Her voice is the loudest, the most cutting, the most painful to his already broken heart.

“How could he?” The rage and fury in the man next to him is familiar, but never directed at him, never _because_ of him. The shock, the grief, and the anger is pounding in his own chest, but it can't be true, because _how could he_?

“Your own son, Grisha! How could he?” Grice screams.

_How could he?_


	12. Wind

Days like this cause a lot of grumbling. Most of her comrades are small framed like her, and strong winds always inconvenience them, interfering in their trajectories and throwing them off balance.

She doesn't mind, though. Her father had once told her she must be a reincarnated bird: she is made for flight, in any weather.

“You're so good!” A comrade sighs. “Look, even  _ they're _ watching!”

Petra glances down and sees the Corps’ famous Commander and Captain watching her intently. Smiling to herself, she flows down with the stiff breeze to land gracefully.

She smells a promotion in the wind.


	13. Order

He hears the door open but doesn't look away; the stains aren't going, his fingers and nails are still crimson.

“Levi.”

It's _him._ Levi doesn't respond, still scrubbing.

“Now you know why I stress on orders.” Erwin goes to wash his hands, too. “You did well in bringing down those Titans. But you left the right flank open for attack.”

“I _know_ ,” Levi growls. Goddamn blood. Stains like nothing else.

Erwin’s voice is unnaturally soft. “Go to bed, Levi. Your hands are clean.”

They're really not. He scrubs harder.

“That's an order, soldier.”

Levi obeys, disbelieving, and goes to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't seem to stop writing these two sorrynotsorry


	14. Knowledge

“Knowledge is power, Armin. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.”

It is the earliest memory he has of his father, the eyes he inherited from him glimmering down at him as he said the words.

_ Knowledge is power _ , he tells himself when the bullies draw blood, when he is told his parents aren't coming back, when he sees through the government's flimsy excuse for genocide.

_ Knowledge is power _ , he thinks when his comrades are massacred, when he faces betrayal upon betrayal, when he shoots a woman dead.

_ Knowledge is power _ , Armin reminds himself, when Bertholdt narrates his nightmares for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seem to be stuck in canon, whoops


	15. Move

He supposes it's his uneventful childhood that made him so averse to stagnancy. He can't wait to leave home, to finally be free of the oppression of his family's settled-down lifestyle.

His chance comes two years before expected, in the form of ominous lights and shapes that dominate the sky. Jean actually laughs out loud, scared and delighted at the same time.

Marco's eyes are wider than he has ever seen them. “T-that’s a spaceship! W-with…”

“ _Aliens_!” Jean hoots, heart pounding with fear, dread, and a whole lot of relief. He grabs Marco’s hand. “Fucking _move_ , man!”

And he runs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woahhhh I'm halfway there


	16. Thanks

She can't stop saying it. Every time a gentle look or calm word is directed at her, the response comes automatically. She says little else for a whole day.

“Thank you, Mrs. Jaeger.”

She prays fervently that it is enough, since there is no way to pay their kindness back. She hopes they know that her toneless voice is not indicative of an emotionless heart.

(After all, she has far too many emotions to just let slip into her voice.)

“I told you, dear, call me Aunt Carla.”

“Thank you, Aunt Carla,” Mikasa repeats and her voice trembles anyway.


	17. Look

“You're fucking gay, Braun!” Ymir snarled.

“Yeah, so?” Reiner glared down at her. “What's your point?”

“My _point_ is I don't understand _why_ your gay ass needs to _ogle_ my girlfriend everytime she's around!”

“I don't _ogle_...”

Bertholdt played peacemaker as always. “You of all people should understand the fluidity of sexuality, Ymir-”

“Spare me the fucking pride lecture,” Ymir hissed. “You better keep your eyes to yourself, Braun, or you won't _have_ a sex drive to worry about when I'm through with you!”

Reiner paled, watching her storm away. Bertholdt murmured, “Guess Krista is off-limits, then.”

“ _Shit_ , yes.”


	18. Tremble

“Here. Have some tea.”

He takes the proffered teacup and watches his trembling hands. The teacup rattles loudly against its saucer.

Kenny scowls. “It's happening soon, huh.”

“Oh yes, very,” Uri says mildly, taking a shaky sip of his tea. “By the end of the week.”

“Shouldn't you be in bed or something?” Kenny snaps.

Uri smirks; a dollop of tea spills into his saucer. “You care for me so much.”

“Fuck off,” Kenny growls. “I just want to know when to avoid your twisted fucking rituals.”

“I'll miss you too, you know,” Uri murmurs.

“Fuck off,” Kenny repeats harshly.


	19. Promise

Drunk Armin is a very depressed Armin. Levi wishes that he weren't always the only sober person in every drinking party he joined. The others have moved on or gone home, but Armin persists, sobbing over his mug of ale.

“I'm _sorry,_  Captain! I promise you won't regret it.”

“Tch. Can you walk?”

Armin tries, and succeeds thanks to Levi's helpful arm around his waist.

“I'm sorry it had to be _me_ …”

Levi almost snaps then, but Armin continues, “I promise I'll prove you - your choice - right. I _promise_ , Captain.”

Levi stares into his hollow blue eyes.

“Good,” Levi says.


	20. Transformation

She hasn't slept a wink all night, so she allows the maid to pat a smattering of powder on her face, focusing on the pronounced bags beneath her eyes. She eschews all other makeup, and shoos the maid away when she fusses over her hair.

“Just a braid or two, ma'am,” the maid tries.

“Leave me.” Already her voice is imperious, issuing orders and having them obeyed. There are some who might have revelled in this, but not her.

She has a job to do, a role to fulfill.

In ten minutes, the Coronation. And then her Transformation is complete.


	21. Mad

“I'm not crazy.”

His reflection looks back at him, steady and grim. But the changes always happen in the edges, in the features he is not focusing on. Did his eyes just turn blue? No -but his blond hair is much longer… Wait, his mouth is now a rosebud -and now he can hear a girl's tinkling laugh...

“Hey. You alright?”

Pieck is peeking into his room, and in the dim light her dark hair seems suddenly much shorter, freckles dancing on her smirking cheeks-

“I'm not mad,” he tells her.

“Oh, Porco,” she chuckles, “we all are.”


	22. Outside

“C'mon, Armin, get off your ass!”

“No.”

“Come ooon!” Eren whined. “Don't you want to experience the outside world?”

“Been there, done that, thanks,” Armin muttered, and moved a piece on the board in front of him, making Annie glare at him.

“Little help here, Miks?” Eren huffed.

“I could carry them out-”

“Hey, Eren,” Armin said suddenly. “You know the new DLC’s for AoT should be out today?”

“ _Eren_!”

But Eren ignored Mikasa and hurried to his gaming console while Armin congratulated himself.

“I blame you, Leonhardt,” Mikasa growled, kicking off her running shoes.

“Bite me, Ackerman,” Annie smirked.


	23. Simple

“Lynne told me she had a cabin…”

“That'll do.”

It's never simple, Erwin had said once; Levi can't remember when. All his memories of Erwin have coalesced into one giant, timeless mass of  _ purpose _ .

“Kirschtein,” he says, and the boy snaps to attention. “Coordinate with Moblit. Scope the cabin. Report back.”

“Understood!”

Hange stands, weary and wincing, and Levi  _ swears  _ he can hear her bones creak.

“Get some rest, Levi. He -it'll be fine.”

He speaks only after she leaves, staring at the bandaged stump, the pale and feverish brow, perfect hair tangled, perfect Commander mangled.

“It's not that simple.”


	24. Summer

“It's too hot! Ugh, why isn't it summer vacation already…”

“Jean, shut up, I can't take your horse face in this heat right now-”

“Why aren't we going to a frozen rink or something man-”

“The museum is air-conditioned, Connie…”

“Does it have an ice-cream stand, though?”

“Why -why would a museum-”

“Okay, that's it, you rabid little-”

“You wanna piece of me? Huh-”

“ _Eren_!”

“Jean, _no_!”

The bus fell eerily silent when Mr. Ackerman stood up from his seat near the driver. “Change of plans,” he drawled, eyeing his students. “We're going to the zoo.”

Only Miss Zoë cheered.


	25. Letters

_Dear Ymir,_

_Thank you for your letter. I wish_

 

* * *

 

_Dear Ymir,_

_I saw the ocean today. I wish_

 

* * *

 

_Dear Ymir,_

_We caught our first Marleyan prisoners today. Were you from Marley? You never said where_

 

* * *

 

_Dear Ymir,_

_We have formed the first foreign alliance made by our country, under my reign. I wonder what you_

 

* * *

 

_Dear Ymir,_

_Our country's fate is dire. Did you know this? Could you have predicted this? Why_

 

* * *

 

_Dear Ymir,_

_You would've hated my mother. I would too, but I don't know how to be_

 

* * *

 

_Dear Ymir,_

_Why_

 

* * *

 

_Dear Ymir,_

_I wish we were married, too._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it wasn't obvious, all these letters end abruptly because they are unfinished. I'm sorry.


	26. Sunset

Sunsets in Shiganshina are beautiful. Wall Maria is slightly shorter than Rose, so the slanting rays of the setting sun lends an inimitable golden glow to the ruined rooftops.

“Nothing,” Zeke announces, stepping out of the house. His voice is calm,  _ too _ calm.

“Too bad you didn't think to find out Eren's home address.” He walks within an inch of where Reiner stands and he hates the way he tenses reflexively.

“Annie would've,” Zeke mutters, glasses flashing at him, and then walks away.

Bertholdt turns away from the red mark he paints on the door. “Annie would've,” he repeats sadly.


	27. Winter

“Shit, it's freezing!”

“Shut the fuck up and _move,_ Eren.”

“Guys, keep it down…”

“You wimps don't know what a _real_ winter is. This is _nothing_ , right Bertholdt?”

“Stop showing off, jeez…”

“Are you actually _sweating_ , Bertholdt-”

“Siberian freaks…”

“Hey! I heard that-”

“Guys, _shh_ -”

A sudden beam of light from a flashlight fell upon them, and everybody froze.

“Going somewhere, boys?” Mr. Smith's voice was dangerously calm.

Silence.

“Back to bed, now.”

No one argued, and they slunk away, relieved at escaping punishment. But then-

“Oh, Armin.”

Armin froze, wincing.

“Leave the bottle, would you,” Mr. Smith smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They were trying to sneak in alcohol, if it wasn't obvious. Man this word limit is the worst


	28. Diamond

“So  _ this  _ is a diamond?” Sasha breathes, leaning in like she means to devour the jewel with her eyes alone. Mikasa watches from a distance, unimpressed.

Historia nods uncomfortably.

Sasha hums and holds up the earring next to her ear. “You'll have to get your ears pierced for this.”

Historia pushes Sasha's hand away firmly. “I'm selling them to get more money for the orphanage.”

She almost wilts under their stares, but then Sasha grins, “Yesss! More food!”

“For the kids,” Mikasa points out.

“I  _ know _ !” Sasha pouts, and, her heart suddenly feeling light, Historia bursts out laughing.


	29. Thousand

He remembers them all: hundreds of promises made to thousands of tortured souls, hundreds of dismembered bodies and a thousand last breaths that he has been witness to.

Now, a hundred soldiers and their steeds wait silently at the gate far, far below him. Thousands of unfulfilled dreams, thousands more unshed tears, for less than a hundred seconds of glory…

…for him, for his inhuman talent in violence and destruction to come into play. A thousand regrets forged into one last, desperate, hopeful charge…

…for _ him. _

Levi thinks of gold and tea and tears, and jumps off the wall.


	30. Future

“I will not do you the dishonour of giving meaningless platitudes.” The General strides down the flight deck, mouth firm, nose high, eyes orbs of ice. “We are at war, and humanity's survival rests on our shoulders. It is a huge responsibility that we must bear, but I would not be standing here in front of you -my soldiers, my _comrades_ , if I did not think that you could bear it.”

The soldiers all charge their blasters and thump their hearts in one loud, solid salute. General Erwin Smith looks at familiar faces, all wearing his grim smile, from the tiniest cadet-Queen, to his Admiral -his right hand.

_“Here we go again.”_

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: First time I've written works this short, I'm not even kidding.
> 
> So please, do let me know what you think of them!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
